Seriously Again
by Star Timeblazer
Summary: I normally don't understand anything, but I always thought that I understood Invader Zim. I think I was wrong. Sasha understands it better, that's for sure. Wish I knew where she was. Or why she keeps popping in and out of reality so much. Well, this reality. (re-vamp of an old story. Lets see how this goes.)
1. Fire

**A/N:**

**okay, so, first off, WOW**

**I have not been on this site in forever and, in a spur-of-the-moment kinda dealio, have decided to try again at my old story; Seriously.**

**I have been depressed/suicidal/self harming for a while now, and I think that's why I quit the story in the first place. That's not an excuse at all for not writing however! And I really need the practice! Besides, I remember that I really, REALLY loved working on this story! somehow. I know I had a million notes for this, but those were either consumed by the garbage in a fit of 'im never writing again' on my part, or just lost. But I still sorta-half-kinda remember the plot!**

**However, I have noticed that my writing skills have improved from what they were when this story was written! Which is great! That makes me so so so happy!**

**So, being able to kinda-sorta remember the plot of this story, I've decided to pick it up again! I will rewrite most of the chapters that have already been published and they will, hopefully, be mostly the same! Or not, we'll just see! If I keep having new ideas then who knows!**

**A lot has changed in the – around a year I think – I've not been on here writing, so I really do hope you won't be disappointed in how the story comes along for it's second round!**

**The title will be remaining the same, I think; maybe 'Seriously, again', as a new title, but feel free to read the first version if you're into spoilers or looking at bad beginnings! I hope you can all forgive me for giving up on this in the first place!**

* * *

**Fire**

I'm out of breath, I'm confused, and I don't know where I am.

Stumbling, holding my backpack to myself, I work my way up a trash covered hill, slipping on soda cans and narrowly avoiding a shard of glass to my eye. The grass is slippery under my feet, my throat is parched, the hill smells like urine and I swear to god I was _just_ on a beach-side camping site not the middle of the woods in fall-like weather.

Reaching the top of the hill is a victory. A victory that leaves me more confused as I stare around at another hill, going down, towards a city, brightly lit and shining. Its like a lens flare effect. I stumble forward, blind, lifting a hand to cover my face.

There's a sound, like the worlds largest goose. Flinching, I turn, and a car, the 'metal goose', barrels at me. I barely have time to scream before I'm jumping out of the way and rolling down the hill towards the city, my pack slapping me in the chin, my teeth closing on my tongue. I eventually come to a stop in a wet bush, a soda can, dislodged from the hillside from my tumble, falls down onto my head before bouncing away with a metal crash. I can taste a bit of blood in my mouth.

I don't know where I am, so it's hard to tell a story, but I'm pretty sure it started with a fire.

…

You kinda thought at first that the idea of camping was a dumb idea. Well, no, you love the _idea _of camping. Nice fire, marshmallows, lake to swim in. Actual camping? No, ew. Bugs and sweat and burnt faces from hotdog incidents ( that in no way involved me I can assure you most confidently ), and gross family members being, well, gross. And mean. And nasty.

But I went, because Sasha was coming along, and because mom was letting me bring the internet router. Heck. Yes.

The first few days were easy enough. Run around outside in the morning and mess around with sticks and rocks, go swimming, and then in the afternoon rush to our little camper and plug into our blogs.

But then on the second day mom decided that 'blogging is not an acceptable campsite activity!'.

So, of course, Sasha and I went out, and got into trouble.

…

"Sash... Sash _no!_"

"What!? I'll be fiiiiiiine."

"Sasha you are going to _die!_"

I watched as my friend giggled, grinning at me, and hopped to another rock, slipped, and then regained her balance. "Ffffffffffffffffine, Casey. Fine. Look at how fine I am. People look at me, they go; dang. She fine."

"I said that last week you butt-turd now _get off of that!_"

Sasha giggled, and crouched, starting to poke at the mucky water she stood over. We'd happened upon a swamp not too far from our camp, though off the path of course. As soon as Sasha had heard the frogs shed been running. I had to follow, in case she got into trouble. Sasha had, before I could do anything, lept to a smooth rock, and then another, and now crouched, small lantern clipped to her pants as she poked at frogs. Leaning forward enough that I was worried she would fall in and drown.

I paced at the shore, looking around at the forest and trees as the sky started to darken. I looked back to her. "Sasha you're going to fall in and I'm going to have to watch you drown."

"Get it on video then."

"SASHA!"

Yelping, she looked over at me, and then stuck out her tongue. "Caaaaaalm down, Cas, it's probably not even that deep!"

"Will you be saying that when you die!?"

"Yes. Probably."

Groaning, I wiped at my face, bumping my glasses around before sitting down and watching as she hopped over to a log. I threw a clump of dirt at her. It missed, skipped on the water, and then floated in front of her. Sasha giggled at me, sticking out her tongue, and I watched as the dirt clump sank, absorbing the swampy water. A frog poked its head out and croaked at Sasha before hiding.

I had to smile a bit, but it soon faded as Sasha sat length-wise on the log, and unclasped her lantern.

"Sasha."

"Casey."

"Sasha what are you doing."

"Iiiiii'm gonna drop this in the waaaaaaaaaaaater."

"_Why?_"

Sasha giggled and I stood, frowning at her and putting my hands on my hips. "I wanna see how deep it is! It's probably not even that baaaaaaaaaad."

"Sasha you're going to lose your lantern."

Sasha snorted, holding it over the water. "And the frogs shall gain a space ship."

I made a face. "Sasha this is going to end up like the _Simpsons movie,_ you know that right? You're going to put that in the water, and then you will kill everything in it with electricity!"

"Cas, 'cmon, I've only got ONE battery in it anyway! Besides, I always wanted to try frog legs!" And with that, she dropped it into the water with a huge grin.

There was a splash, a plop, and then it sank below the water, leaving Sasha with a wet lap, and no lantern. Sasha stuck her hand in after it, and I watched her fish around for it before a disappointed look over came her face and she took her hand out of the water. I simply put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow.

"Sasha."

"No, don't say it."

"You're a bloody idiot."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh, let's just go eat hotdogs n' watch Invader Zim."

I giggled, smiling, and Sasha started to hop back to the shore. "Eeeexxcceellleeennttttt." I drew out, and Sasha giggled, reaching the shore and poking me before starting to run back to camp. I followed, giggling excitedly.

Later, when I eventually figured everything out, I would I really wish she'd fished the lantern out of the water.

...

The world was on fire and screaming when I woke up. I think the screaming was coming from Sasha as she shook me. I have never claimed to be a light sleeper and this just proved that I was not in my opinion.

Sasha was yelling something about a fire. I was still wondering driftingly at what was going on, but as soon as I heard, fire, I was sitting up, eyes wide. "_What!?_"

"HURRY!" Sasha snapped, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of my sleeping bag, shoving my bag into my arms before pushing me towards the door of the camper. Couldn't say Sasha didn't have her priorities straight. Belongings and _then_ our lives. Love her.

Stumbling out of the camper, a wave of heat hit me and my back straightened, eyes widening as I looked around. The trees were rapidly starting to burn, and I could see my cousins running towards the lake. I stared, and then jumped as Sasha fell next to me, tripping over her own feet.

I spaced out. Not my body, just my head. My head was full of buzzing but my body reached down, grabbing Sasha and starting to drag her along towards the lake, stumbling but never letting go of her arm.

I could see my mom waving us over, hear her shouting to hurry. But, also, I could see the fallen tree, blocking our path. Flames slowly licked at it, and I jerked Sasha's arm, dragging her down the path we'd been on only hours before. I could only assume this all started from a campfire. The hotdogs maybe. It wasn't important at the moment.

Flames roared as I dragged Sasha along. We were both panting and hurrying as heat chased at our backs and our feet pounded on dirt and rocks. My breath wasn't coming to me easily, and my eyes burned in the smoke, no wonder I didn't see the rock.

It trapped my ankle between itself and the ground and I tumbled, letting go of Sasha at the last minute. My head hit something hard and I couldn't open my eyes for a few seconds. It hurt, it hurt it hurt it hurt, oh god.

"Casey! _Casey get up!"_

My eyes open and I started to stumble up to my feet. The fire we'd been escaping had caught up to us, had snaked around to the path in front of us. I couldn't believe Sasha hadn't left me. Hadn't run to safety.

Grasping her arm, I pulled myself up, and she suddenly started leading me off of the path. My vision was blurry and my head pounded but I followed her, panting, hoping she knew what she was doing.

I noticed a few seconds before she pushed me where we were, the swamp. We stopped at the edge, I hesitated, and she shoved me in, jumping in after.

I spluttered, choking, and grabbed her arm as we moved as quickly as we could towards the center of the water, feet sticking in mud. Sasha cried out and stopped moving forward suddenly, and I tugged at her arm, freeing her of whatever had gotten, I assumed, her foot, only to yelp as I was dragged under as well. It felt like there were hands on my feet.

Sasha dragged me back up for a second, our packs acting as life jackets, but then she was tugged down as well, head bobbing and water clinginging to her glasses.

"_Sasha!"_

I was gasping and pulling her up, but it was getting hard to breath, regardless of if we were above water or not.

I think I held onto her arm until I passed out, or blacked out, or was knocked out or whatever it was that happened. But I don't remember.

…

My head still hurt from the rock, and the fall, but I got up anyway, looking around. I'd try to flag a car, but, well, I knew how well that had gone before.

I swallowed, squinting in the dark. "Sasha? _Sasha?_" I don't understand why I'd call for her now. If she were anywhere she'd be on the other side of the hill. Stupid.

No response. Feeling even more confused, I turned and started for the city, frowning. Maybe I was dead. That was a possibility. Crappy afterlife in that case. Dirty too.

I just needed to find Sasha.

* * *

**whhhhhhELP i hope this all works out!**


	2. Duck, Duck, Uch

**A/N: well, bad things just seem to keep happening i guess! My grandpa died today, so that really sucks, but I'm glad I was able to get this chapter out, and I'm so so happy that you all seem to like it! Your comments are really encouraging and wonderful! Also I'll try to keep this as funny as it was in the last version! I know that was something you all liked!**

* * *

Birds chirped, and I opened my eyes, looking up. Sun met my eyes immediately and I hissed, covering my face and groaning, letting out a low sound of complaint. Stupid yellow burning sun, stupid red sky, stupid birds that wouldn't shut _uuuuuuup!_

God.

I'd taken shelter at a park bench, having reached it in the middle of the night, and now my back was stiff, cold, and wet from lay-

Wait.

Red sky.

Red.

Red as in not blue.

As far as I knew, the sky wasn't red, it was blue. Unless it was on fire in a _Doctor Who_ episode. Which I knew I wasn't in. (Definitely. Maybe.)

My eyes popped open – I swore there was an actual pop – and I stared up at the sky, heedless of the headache starting to dance the mambo on my brain. Stupid, horrible sun. Horrible.

They sky was a reddish-purple in the early morning light, it shimmered from heat high in the air that hadn't yet sunk down to the Earth's surface, but holy _cheese _why was it _red? _It would be normal – expected – for it to be this color early in the morning, but, not _directly above me,_ the red always petered off to blue or black, not… Remained a continuous red. That wasn't natural.

Maybe I was in hell. JTHM version of hell. With a-holes galore. That would at least explain the driver from last night. In all honesty, I expected the after-life to be a bit JTHM-like. I didn't often have high expectations for the world.

Or maybe I was just a dummy who ran in front of a moving car.

At night.

Who knew? Could be either at this point. And honestly it wasn't like I didn't wish I was in a JTHM hell, if only for the neato art style. Possibly Nny. Observed from afar, preferably.

Finally taking my eyes away from the sky, fearing for their well-being. I already had to wear glasses, I didn't much fancy anything worse than my current prescription. I sighed and looked around.

I almost decided to lay back down.

Everything was… weirdly colored. Too bright, and unnatural. Colors were offset and somehow muted in spots, it was familiar-

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Wait.

I twisted, looking down at the bench I was sitting on. "Waaaaaaaait. Wait. Wait a frigging _second._" I hissed, eyes narrowing.

It appeared that the after-life was a cartoon.

What. The heck.

I jumped up from the bench, as if burnt, and looked around, eyes widening and panicking only a _little. Totally _only a little bit. I wasn't freaking out at all. Nope.

Everything had an _outline, _though! I know that people normally have that faint outline around them, barely noticeable, seeing as it's just a contrast in colors and their position on your view of the horizon-line, but, these lines were _thick, _visible and thick and sometimes black. _Outlines!_

I twirled in a circle, looking around. I'd managed to make it to a small park on the outskirts of the city, and in the dark everything had looked normal enough, yeah, but now…

A broken, twisted metal fountain sat not too far away, filled with trash. It was bronze from abandonment but a duck sat in the mucky water, quacking. A duck with googly eyes and a scar on it's beak.

Back up; ruler straight, I pigeon-hopped my way over, leaning over the fountain's edge to stare at it. The duck stared back, eyes pointing in two different directions, a somehow familiar vapid look. I seemed to have the biggest case of deja-vu along with being dead. At least I could remember who I was. Stupid afterlife.

I reached forward to touch it, and then stopped.

My hand had an outline. (Of course it did, what, did I think I'd just be a hyper-realistic dork in the land of cartoons? Idiot.) A black outline, just like everything else. It was still pale, still covered in freckles, still mine, but – holy crap I was missing a finger. Literally. No finger. Sans finger. Invis-o-finger. God dang it.

I stared at my hand, and then, coming to the conclusion that losing a finger was hardly the main issue of my day, I leaned over the fountain to stare at myself.

"Holy crap."

My hair had become jagged, still brown, but now curled up almost like tusks at my chin, my bangs were similarly shaped. Still had the green beanie on, face was the same, however oddly square... Freckles all over, glasses, green eyes.

Green eyes that were square.

And… jaw hair. Teeth. Scary. Pointy. Recognizable.

Gaz.

"Oh my god."

The duck quacked and I looked at it, suddenly and rapidly beginning to recognize it, the style everything was 'drawn' in. My heart clutched and sank to my stomach and I stood up straight, in shock.

"Sasha what did you _do?_"

Of course that was my first thought. It almost always was.

Sasha wasn't here, she didn't answer, and I looked to the duck again. It quacked and fluffed itself up a bit, and I sat down at the fountain, reaching up to rub my head. This wasn't real. This _totally_ wasn't real. I closed my eyes tightly and rubbed at my temples. Not real not real not real. Make-believe fairy tails, fairy dust and stupid freaking mushrooms!

I opened my eyes. The duck had moved out of the fountain and stood at my feet. It quacked at me, pecked my foot, and then sat down.

It was real.

"Oh for crapping-frigging-crap's sake."

After a few moments of sitting, staring at the duck, I stood.

So. I was, apparently, in Invader Zim. Or dead, or somewhere that looked like a Jhonen-styled afterlife. Or I was dreaming. Or I'd gotten into a mushroom patch.

I watched as a jogger ran on a path a ways away from me, almost ready to panic. But, this could be a dream, right? How often did I get to have a dream like this?! Not often enough, that was for sure, and I was aware in this one! None of that 'doing strange things you'd never actually do' kinda stuff either!

I hesitated, and then smiled slightly, starting back to my bench. By now the sun was up more, and as I pulled my backpack on, I looked around.

It did indeed look like Invader Zim land. Some magic portal or dying had brought me here, that was all I needed to focus on. Right now at least. If I thought about it too much, well, I'd freak out, probably. Almost certainly. I'd probably faint. God I was a wimp.

I might as well find somewhere to live in the mean-time at least. I couldn't very well live – or spend my after-life – on a bench, could I?

Well, I could. But that was beside the point.

The point being that benches were generally uncomfortable and occupied by old ladies feeding birds during the day, and hobos – such as myself in this situation I suppose – at night. I didn't exactly want to be laying, taking a nap, and have some old lady plant her butt on me just to feed some pigeons.

No way, no old lady butt for me; ew.

I hiked my back-pack up and held onto both straps, starting down the path and looking around. It was warming up at least, the trees were pretty as well. I just hoped I'd find someplace to stay soon. I highly doubted that Sasha had hastily shoved any food into my backpack when she was rushing us out, or money. Or a tent. Or a house.

I almost blamed her for all this, well, mostly. I wasn't so sure yet. If she hadn't packed our bags before running away, we could have made it out instead of dying in the swamp. Or, transporting in the swamp? Nah, probably dying. I could remember vaguely the inavailability of air, so I was probably dead. Or in a coma.

Then again this wasn't all that bad, living – or being dead – in a cartoon? Are you kidding, that was my dream as a kid! Still my dream, honestly! Dreaming it currently if I wasn't dead!

I couldn't decide if I wanted to thank Sasha or kill her – double dead if we indeed were dead – next time I saw her. This was normal. I usually felt this way about her. Crazy lass.

I stopped thinking so much on Sasha as I started to meet more people on the path. They either grunted or eyeballed me as I passed. Assuming that was normal behavior for them probably would have caused me less stress, but a hole had been burnt into my tee-shirt so they were obviously grunting at that. Which, of course, was ridiculous, seeing as half of the people I passed had grease or sweat stains on them. Disgusting. I'd forgotten how horribly depressing and disgusting anything Jhonen could be.

By the time I reached a more suburban area – which my internal clock didn't seem to think took all together too long, but the one on my watch said at least half an hour. Stupid cartoon/dream physics I assumed – the sun was up a bit more, and there were more people about.

I'd stopped worrying so much about Sasha and now looked around with wide eyed wonder because _cartoon people_. _Background characters _that I could actually recognize! The one dib-look-a-like from _Invasion of the Saucer Morons_ for example, was looking through a window at a tv set. I assumed he wished to buy it and modify it into some sort of alien-communications-device. Good for him. Live your dreams, crazy space dib-man. You go. You do that. Weirdo.

They varied just as much as they usually did in the cartoon, tall, fat, thin, short, weird. An old man caught me staring and made a gurgling noise and I quickly hurried on, though I smiled.

This was so cool. This was so so cool. I couldn't wait to find Sasha, I couldn't wait to see if Zim and Dib and Gaz were here, that this was for real. Like, for real for real. I was going to make new friends too, maybe Dib? Zim? Oh, who was I kidding, neither of them would be _my_ friends, but I could at least enjoy their antic-

"Casey!?"

Walking towards a bus stop, I froze, my eyes widening and my head snapping up. Across the street – to my utter relief and surprise – stood Sasha. She was waving, backpack on, and grinning insanely. There were leaves in her hair and she had, obviously, been enjoying herself here, seeing as she had a Suck-Munky in her hand.

I didn't know if I even _wanted_ to know how that tasted.

"Sasha!" relieved, grinning, and thinking that I was going to punch her arm for leaving me all alone, I started forward, stopping for a car before running across the street, only to stop in the middle of the road.

Sasha was gone.

No trace of her. Suck-Munky wasn't even dropped on the ground; what would of happened if someone had grabbed her. She'd just disappeared.

Poof.

"Sasha-?" I blinked, staring at the spot she'd been in, and then flinched as someone honked their horn right in my ear, yelling at me to get out of the road. I looked to them, dazed but glaring angrily, and quickly ran to where Sasha had been. "Sasha! SASHA?!" I looked around, going to a corner-store and peering around it for her. There was air there, not filled with Sasha though. "This isn't funny!"

Someone walking past looked at me oddly, as if I was wrong, and everything today WAS funny, but quickly moved on. I looked at them flatly as they left and then looked around for Sasha again, spinning in a circle.

"Sash?"

Did I just, imagine her? Was I going crazy, pretending to see her?

Frowning, looking around a bit angrily, I started stomping down the street again, sighing.

I guess I was crazy _and_ dead. Apparently only being one wasn't enough for the universe, which in my opinion was not fair at all.

I looked up as I crossed a road, sighing and looking around as stores gradually faded into houses with the occasional seven eleven. I was confused by Sasha, of course I was – I always was – but it would probably be better for me if I stopped thinking about it. Something that I did not, in any way, manage to do. At all. Nope.

Dang it.

I stopped at a bus stop as the sun reached the center of the sky, and sat on a bench to go through my belongings. Of course I did this as orderly as possible, by dumping it all out on the bench. Pencils and pieces of paper, of course, fell through the cracks. Cursing, I picked them up and started to go through everything.

Most of it had been beat up, bent, or had gotten wet from the swamp. So much for being 'water proof', Mr. backpack. Uch.

I had about twenty pencils – excellent – three notebooks – even better – some loose-leaf paper (which was crumpled and wet seeing as it had been stuffed to the bottom of my backpack), my computer which had, miraculously, been saved from certain death by the loose-leaf paper. I almost cried at that. I had a sketch book and some colored pencils and markers, a wallet with a wet fifty and a ten in it, extra pair of undies and a shirt, both wet, and an energy bar I didn't really feel brave enough to check the expiration date of.

I ate it of course, as soon as I got my hands on it I was snarfing it down like some sort of animal. It just seemed to make me more hungry.

Of course.

I had other little things in my bag, hairbands and paperclips and my house keys, my iphone, however, I found in my toiletries bag. I think that was from when I was hiding it from my mom. It had been a 'no electronics' kind of deal in the first place. That hadn't lasted, of course.

It was a little moist but no worse-for-wear and I stuffed it into my jeans pocket, sighing. I took my beanie off and brushed my hair back, looking around as I put it back on.

I was hungry, I didn't know where I was, and I was probably dead. I'd thought of running away a lot lately, but, I was surprised by how accurate my thoughts on how miserable it would be to be alone were. That's probably why I never ran away in the first place. Uch.

I swung my feet a bit, looking at mud covered shoes and feeling water between my toes, and then started to shake my backpack out, getting it as dry as possible. I then stuffed any dry loose-leaf paper I had to the bottom of it, and stacked everything back on top of it, zipped it up, and then stood up, jumping off the bench.

Of course, my leg had fallen asleep, and I let out a curse as it gave out and I fell sideways onto the ground. Apparently if a tree falls and no one's around to hear it, it says a four letter word starting with s and ending with t. Remarkable. Brilliant. I couldn't wait to tell everyone about it. Everyone who cared.

I got back up, dusting myself off, and shook my leg angrily until it woke up. I started down the sidewalk again, shoulders slumped tiredly as I limped away.

…

I'd passed at least a hundred houses by now, and the sun was beating down on me. I checked my watch. 2:36. I'd been at it for hours. Stupid energy bar hadn't even done anything.

Eventually the houses faded into fences and I could hear heavier traffic a few streets over. I sighed and sat down against a brick wall, backpack leaning against the metal fence that was set into it. I yawned, leaning my head back a bit.

Being a hobo was horrible. I do not recommend it. Unless you like being hungry and smelling like a swamp. If you have a knack for growing beards, however, this might just be the job for you. Sans-job of course. Also sans-house. And shower. And warm blankets. Ugh.

Sudden and screeching air breaks suddenly caught my attention and I sat up, eyes wide as a large, loud bus suddenly rounded the corner, throwing something small and green off of it and onto the fence next to me, causing it to rattle. The figure, green and red like a Christmas elf, 'ughfhed' and then glared up after the bus.

"Ha! SEE YA DIB! pit-E-FUL HU-MAN!" It spat after the bus, bulbous eyes glaring, only to scream and squeal as a large, disproportional dog ( I mean seriously its head was big enough alone that it's lower body wouldn't be able to carry it anywhere ) lept up and grabbed him, growling and barking.

A boot went flying and landed on the fence as the green creature screamed. The bus turned the corner I was sitting at, and a pale and clad-in-black figure jumped off of it, running across the brick above my head and to the fence, kicking the boot away and glaring down in to the rustling bushes, handcuffs gripped in white knuckled hands.

Unnoticed by him, the green creature crawled out from the bushes and between the bars, pulling it's boot back on. It glared up at the human a moment before suddenly jumping up onto the fence, pushing him into the bushes where the dog instantly grabbed him and started using him as his own personal chew-toy.

Green-bean smiled a moment before turning towards the road, a metal arm with a yam-looking device on the end of it popping out. He grabbed a hold of it, eyes wide. "GIR! Help me! There isn't much _time_!"

"Yes sir!" a voice buzzed from the metal yam. There was a sudden roaring-buzzing sound, and a little green dog came flying from around the corner, stopping in front of green-bean to hover.

"Get me out of here _now,_ GIR, _now!_" Fists clenched as bean-y yelled.

"Oooooooooooookie _dokie!_" The dog squealed, ignoring as it's master objected ('waitaminute,whatthe-?), swooping under him and then shooting off down the block, it's master screaming and holding onto it's ears, leaving a smoke trail behind them.

The human stumbled out of the bushes a few moments later, beaten and bitten. He frowned, in pain, and then suddenly grinned, spotting the smoke trail, and lept off after it, teeth flashing. He disappeared around the corner, giggling, and I was left alone, sitting in the same spot, eyes wide enough to burst, and nearly mouthless as my lip pushed itself out in vapid disbelief.

"Oh." I blinked after them, watching the smoke settle and clear. "Well then."

That was my first encounter with Zim and Dib.

That was a scene from the first episode of Invader Zim.

Those were _cartoon characters_.

An alien and a kid.

"Holy ship."

I was in Invader Zim. Not JTHM, thankfully. But there were still psychopaths about.

I giggled quietly, starting to grin excitedly.

Oh man, oh man.

This was amazing.


	3. Home Home Home

**a/N: Heeeeeyyy! I wish I could have updated sooner but life got in the way! Enjoy this chapter!  
**

* * *

My first, honest-to-god thought was that Dib's head actually was pretty big. Neat.

I sat still for a few more moments before sitting up, watching the smoke fade away. Should I follow it? Keep going where I was going? (where was I going anyway, I didn't know where I was) I didn't want to interrupt anything, but... But, just, c'mon! Zim! Dib! Gaz! Gir! Everyone! Ugh!

"Fffffffffffffffffffrick it." I said, getting up and grabbing my bag. I stumbled off of the curb and started running after the smoke trail, my backpack bumping and jingling. I ran around the corner, yelping and moving back onto the sidewalk when a car drove past, beeping at me. I shook my fist at them, pausing long enough to watch them disappear, and then went back to running.

The smoke trail was almost gone but it was still there enough for me to see it. I panted, rushing after it. I should have spent the ten bucks on Planet-Fitness when I had the chance. Stupid weak legs! Horrible.

I kept running, though I was tired. This was probably a bad idea, seeing as I didn't have any food and I was tired and without shelter, but, well... Adventure! Adventure and lovely characters and, well, I was kinda stupid.

Really stupid.

Blazingly, shockingly stupid.

Excellent.

The smoke was getting thinner and, to my lungs, so was the air. I rounded a corner, panting and ready to give up. But, sticking out like a sore thumb, a small house sat squeezed between two apartment complexes, cords and wires stretching into the brick of the neighboring homes, cracking it as they squeezed their way into them. Strange lawn decorations covered the front yard and the green walls and red roof of the house shone in the light. Pale-face-mc-bighead was just ending his speech, backing up as the 'friendly' garden gnomes aimed tiny but deadly lasers at him, forcing him outside the fence.

"-...To the depths of the ocean! I'll get you Zim!" Dib, shaking a fist at the house, made a move to rush back at it. The gnomes whirred threateningly, grinning at Dib. He gulped, and took a step back. The gnomes slowly scooted back to their spots, watching Dib. Neat. I wanted some. They'd be awesome! ...If I had a house. I kept forgetting that.

I stood at the small entrance to the street, watching Dib as he glared up at the house, shifting from foot to foot. This must be killing him, an alien house, right there. Right smegging there, and he couldn't even get in, couldn't even tell anyone Zim was there without getting laughed at. Poor Dib. It was like holding candy in front of a baby and then eating it. (Not the baby.)

(Hopefully.)

(oh gosh I didn't know, they probably did eat babies here, oh gosh.)

I waited, watching, and he eventually started walking away. I made a circle the long ways around the cul-de-sac, keeping my distance and trying to look casual, and paused in front of Zim's house, watching it and smiling, Dib walked away in the distance, shoulders slumped.

Ugh, it actually... _smelled._ Like chemicals and upturned dirt and new plastic. Metal too. I made a bit of a face, glancing at the "I heart earth!" flag. Cute. Charming. Not weird at all. He'd be better off pretending to be an Eco-maniac with _that_ in the yard. Hippy parent-robots for example. One who was in the war. Lost his squeezin' arm, decided that he wasn't 'all up with the man, maaaaaaaaan', became vegan. Weird lights coming from the house? Trying out some new recipes. Oh you saw an alien? Sorry we were cooking mushrooms. Green skinned kid? We did a lot of weird stuff in the sixties maaaaan. We also use this awesome algae shampoo, stains your skin though. Green shampoo for green skin for the green man, maan.

Simple, God.

Idiots.

Then again Zim had no way of knowing these social-quirks and expectations. He was an alien. Like they had vegans or hippies on Irk. Ugh. I was the idiot.

The front door opened and I jumped; eyes wide. GIR stood in disguise, and blinked at me. I stared back a moment, blinking, before turning and starting to quickly walk away. Speedwalking. There was a squeak, and then another, and then a third, and I turned my head to see GIR peeking out from behind the fence at me, blinking. I waved a little, and then started to quickly run after Dib. I loved GIR, he was adorable, but I didn't exactly want to get caught by GIR's 'owner'. Who was, well, also adorable, but probably smelly. Lizard-smelly. And lizards always smelled like their own pee or dried snake boots, so, well, no thanks.

Or, of course, Zim could also smell like a squashed lady-bug. Also disgusting. Also a 'no thank you I'll pass on the moldy bug-lizard' from me.

Also there was the small fact that Zim was an 'evil' alien monster that was utterly disgusted by humans and _probably_ wouldn't hesitate to gut me like a fish.

And then replace my guts with fish.

Disgusting.

I glanced back at GIR once, and saw that he was dripping melted chocolate from his mouth. Or maybe it was mud. (I didn't care for the third option). Didn't really matter; it was disgusting anyway. He waved at me, squeaking, and I waved back again before rushing down the street, smiling. I would have loved to hug him but, well, Zim. And mud and or chocolate – or something else (ew) – all over his face so, well, no.

Also I could hear a faint "hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiingh" kind of a noise and I assumed that it was GIR's breathing. So, double no. Wait, did robots breathe? Well, more specifically did GIR breathe, seeing as he wasn't exactly… Normal. Robot-wise.

I shook my head. I honestly didn't care – that was a lie, it actually interested me quite a bit and I'd probably be stuck on it for a while. – and started down the road. I needed to shut up the Dib part of my brain, god.

I blinked in surprise, watching as ahead and appearing as a pale speck, Dib turned a corner. I saw a flash of electricity through two houses. The electric fence (literally) for Dib's house! So he didn't live that far from Zim! Or, rather, I was on top of a hill and I could see a lot more from here. He did seem to be at least a few blocks away, though. Lucky him, he's got alien neighbors.

Maybe not lucky for Zim. Probably not Dib either now that I thought of it. They were both within explosion distance after all. Must be stressful being an alien/paranormal investigator.

Ha.

I huffed, starting down the road and down the hill. Well I at least kinda knew where I was now. Within spitting – well, walking – distance of both of the main character's homes. Sweet.

Actually, more than sweet, more like hella rad because oh my _god_ Invader Zim characters! Within breathing distance! (yes I was sure they could hear me breathing down their necks from here already, ha. Haha.)

I let out a breathy squeal and smiled, jumping in place and grinning. This was so amazing, so totally AMAZING.

I'd have to enroll in school. That's what I would do. Would they need my parents to be there in the flesh? Probably not. 'Skool' wasn't exactly the highest of learning establishments. (hint hint they spelled 'School' wrong)

They'd probably just ask for my name and how old I was and just, toss me in to a class. I could always lie my way through it, or make some story up about dead parents/being an orphan. Which I kinda was at the moment, seeing as I was either dead or in a different reality. Or in a coma. Or stupid. I was at least _one_ of those things. (probably two).

In all honesty I could probably just walk in. It _was_ called 'skool', after all. I hardly think that they kept track of their students. Anyone could (probably) just walk in. I mean, look at Zim!

But, would I be in Ms. Bitters' class? Or would I be thrown in with Mr. Elliot? Elliot was Gaz's teacher though, and, hopefully, cartoon-reality-universe-whatever-luck would be on my side! Plus I was 15, taller than Gaz. Maybe taller than Dib? (that'd be sweet) I'd have to check and figure out a lie to tell. I didn't want to end up being placed in a supply closet and miss out on everything, after all. That would suck. That was for weenies. I was not a weenie and I would not accept-

"ugH-!"

I'd just run in to a bench. My stomach was currently being stabbed by cheap cartoon wood.

Only weenies ran into benches. I'd have to preform research on this new phenomenon of non-weenie-bench-hitting. I was not a weenie.

"Ow."

I sighed, rubbing my stomach, and crawled up to sit on the bench, huffing. I could already feel the bruise forming, ugh. I needed to get out of la-la land and pay attention. I hardly even knew where I was, anyway, I didn't have a house, and I was between an Alien that would attack me if he spotted me spying, and a paranormal investigator who would assume I was an alien and attack me.

I was stuck between a rock and a big head, in other words.

I had started to settle down on the bench, deciding that maybe old-lady-butt's _would_ be what I woke up to, when a siren made me jump.

"IDIDN'TDOIT!"

That was not suspicious at all, Casey. Totally. Well done. You should run for president with how much sense and non-suspiciousness you have. Ha. I'm funny. Then again in IZ-world I could probably get away with it.

I stopped being 'not' suspicious and looked up as a police car pulled up to a house directly in front of me, an ambulance quickly following. A crowd of people leaving their homes started to form, and I watched as they trickled from their homes or from down the street. Two paramedics went running down the front sidewalk with a gurney in tow, and I watched, slightly horrified, as they returned with a figure covered in a sheet. Two police officers had stepped out of their cars to interview people, and I quickly darted across the street and into the crowd of murmuring people, blinking around at everyone.

"Some sort of accident-"

"Poor old guy-"

"Knew he'd go too, house is-"

"Death-trap, yeah-"

My eyes widened and I looked up, watching as the paramedics hoisted the body into the ambulance, shutting the doors and suddenly driving off. The police officer was talking with a neighbor, but everything was winding down pretty quickly. Freaking cartoons.

I was sad for the old-guy, didn't know him of course, but it was pretty sad when old people died- wait a friggin' second. Wait...

Blinking, I looked around and then retreated across the street to sit at the bench, waiting.

…

"I can't believe you're doing this Casey, oh my god this is _hideous._"

Talking to myself, I quietly snuck up the front lawn of the deceased old man's home – or what used to be his home, ugh – and looked around nervously before darting up to the door. Trying the knob – locked – I muttered something my mother wouldn't have approved of.

I jumped down from the front stoop, feet sinking in leaves and making them crackle. I froze, looking around, and then started inching to the edge of the house, crouched and trying to keep my backpack from swinging or rattling against anything too loudly.

"This is stupid, so so so stupid, stupid _stupid!_" I hissed angrily, not doing much to keep my voice from rattling. I ran down the side of the house and to the backyard. Flower-smell met me and I looked around, heart squeezing when I saw dying flowers and a greenhouse/shed in the back fenced-in corner.

On one hand this was perfect. Free house, I could always claim to be a granddaughter or relative, and if the Skool asked for parents? Dead grandpa. On the other hand this was probably one of the nastiest things I'd done by _far._ I mean, seriously, Casey? You were going to _use _a dead old man just so you didn't have to live on the streets!? This was terrible of me! He probably had family!

"Sorry." I mumbled, looking to the back patio. It led to a sliding-glass door and I walked to it, stomach pinching guiltily. I'd waited until it had gotten dark enough to do this as well. I could only hope that everyone here in 'Invader Zim' land were dumb enough to believe whatever flaky lies I came up with, even though I deserved to be caught, if only for this. I hoped that wouldn't lead to self-sabotage, as I was prone to doing.

The patio door was unlocked and I slid inside the house, closing it behind me. It was spacious, shelves – where they were – a bit cluttered with things that didn't mean anything to me. Old-person house for sure. It even smelled like it. Like mice and old cologne.

I wandered into the kitchen, setting my backpack down on the table before I rushed to the fridge, pushing it open and starting to scavenge for food, squinting in the light. Milk, eggs, and other such things greeted me, and I sighed a bit with relief. The guy had been rather well-stocked, thankfully.

I guiltily took an apple.

I left the fridge door open and stepped out of the way of the cheap light to look around the kitchen, biting into my apple. Cute cabinets, flowery wallpaper, sink with dishes in it, only a few. A cup for coffee or tea or whatever.

Feeling like a jerk-wad, I went to the sink, hesitated, and then set my apple down before quietly started doing the dishes. Only a few, not like I wouldn't have to do them anyway if I stayed here. Made me feel better, though. Just a little.

It didn't take that long. I dried my hands and went to the table, shoving my pack off of a pile of mail I'd dropped it on. Well, more like a pile of catalogs. All signed to Egbert C. Poor Egbert. No bills though, that was good.

I quietly put the mail in the silverware drawer, under the knives and other utensils, and then put my pack on again. Stubbornly, I worried that someone would catch me, and I would rather have a quick escape anyway.

After wandering down a hall, I'd found the bathroom and a few rooms, all of which smelled like old man. I looked around cautiously before wandering into the livingroom. A TV, coffee table, and curtains greeted me, and I dropped my bag on a comfortable looking chair. Crawling up onto the couch, I settled down on it, curling up in a corner. I let out a sigh, wiping at my cheeks before pushing my glasses off and putting them on the table. It felt, well, a bit wrong, disgusting even, to sleep in a dead man's bed the first night. Let alone his house. Ugh. I'd stay on the couch tonight. And, well, it wasn't like this wasn't... Relatively perfect after all. I wasn't too far from Dib or Zim's house, I could walk to each, and, hey, I was on a hill. Close to a seven eleven too. Perfect. Horrible. Oh god I was in a dead guy's house.

I wasn't a skeptic on ghosts, mom was, well... Had been, seeing as I didn't know if I was dead or, well, what... But, mom was an Empath, I was emotionally sensitive, and, why not believe in those kind of things? But, I didn't think old man Egbert was in here anymore, hopefully. I wasn't good with these things, obviously. Not good with much of anything.

Rolling on to my back, I decided that I would take good care of this house – as good as a fifteen year old girl can when she's all alone – and dosed off.

I'd, well... I'd be doing something tomorrow. I'd have to be responsible from now on, and I needed sleep anyway. I still had to find out where Sasha was, and how I was going to get into Skool. Or, rather, even if I could. Needless to say, I didn't sleep too well.


	4. Do you believe me?

**Hello everyone! im so so so sorry for the delay! My computer happened to die on me! But, thankfully, im on break now and i've gotten a new, much MUCH better computer, so I managed to finish the chapter for today! I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

When I woke up my face was stuck to my arm. Literally. I'd shifted in my sleep to use my arm as a pillow and, had, accordingly, drooled all over it. Said drool had dried, and now my cheek was stuck to my arm.

I sat up, and peeled my arm from my face with a wet snap. Like wet elastic.

"Eeeeew."

My eyes were crusty with sleep and my beanie was on the floor. I was sure my hair was a mess as well. Great.

I sighed and sat up, looking around the lonely house before sliding off the couch. My shoes tapped on wood quietly and I inched over to my bag, taking it and then starting down the hall, checking my watch. 5:30. Usual wake up time. Grand. Couldn't even let myself sleep in, huh? Dummy.

The bathroom was sparse. There was a tub and sink of course, and some shaving supplies. I wouldn't be using those, however. Whatever shampoo the old man had owned was not my... For-Te, so I went without.

I also fell asleep in the shower for a while. With my clothes on. But, well, who cares. That didn't happen, nah. Nope. Hahaha.

Ha.

I'd almost used the bar of soap until thinking better of it and just rinsing off and getting out. Towels smelled like old man too. I was sure they'd eventually smell like me but, well... I felt a bit bad about that. Also having old man-smell on my bare skin would be… kinda gross.

Running around the house – my house now I guess – in only a towel with fogged up glasses, I found some sort of cartoon-brand cheery-O's – HAPPY-SNAX! the box loudly claimed – and poured myself a bowl, deciding to go over today's plans.

Well, make some plans for today at least.

I pulled out my sketch book and drew a little doodle of myself – I'm not saying I _did_ this or anything, but I may or may not have spent some time checking out my new cartoon-features in the mirror this morning – giving me – real me, well, sorta. Cartoon-real-me – a thumbs up and a "you can do it!" that would be squeaky if the tiny-me could talk, I'm sure.

Anyway.

I wrote "THINGS I KNOW" in large letters, and then proceeded to make a list.

So, I knew where I was. (IZ land) check.

I knew I had some sort of 'life' to me. Or at least a consciousness.

I knew where both Zim and Dib were. Hella.

I also knew that I had to go to school if I wanted to have any sort of interaction with anyone. Ever. And also get a free lunch.

I drew a line under that, and started to list things I did not know.

This list was much longer.

I did not know where Sasha was, or if she was okay.

Or alive.

I didn't know how to get back home

I didn't know if I even _wanted _to get back home.

I most certainly did not have any idea how to interact with the characters here.

Don't know how to get into school either.

I didn't know how long I could keep myself in this house.

How long my money would last

What I would need for school

I stopped writing, getting depressed, and sighed. My hair was dry, my cereal gone, and I ought to get to work. I stood and put the dishes in the sink before I put my old clothes on again and went on a scavenger hunt for keys. I ended up finding them in a ash-tray marked 'best grandpa'.

Oh god I was such a horrible person.

I put my beanie back on – shame beanie at this point. Hiding my shameful face. Shame shame shame – and my backpack. I made sure the front door was locked, anything with the ability to create fire successfully turned _off_, and snuck out of the house through the back yard, crouched and nearly doubled over. I righted a tipped over bird-bath, glancing to the greenhouse structure for a moment. I wiggled and scooted my way across wet grass before jumping over the fence. Or rather, I grabbed the top of it, pulled myself half way over it, and got stuck on my stomach. I let my leg twitch, huffing, aaaaaaand then fell down into a bush on the other side. Ugh.

I spat out a leaf, crawling out of the bush. I stopped long enough to pull a branch out of my sleeve, and then skirted around the edge of the neighbor's house. I quickly ran across their yard and down the street. I didn't stop running until I was a block away. Totes not suspicious at all. Totally. You go Casey.

Better safe than sorry, however. If I got caught, well... I honestly had no idea what would happen. I would probably not like it, though.

I sighed, tired, and looked around. I was half way down the hill towards Dib's house and the sun was rising slowly. Nice fall morning. A bit cold, but I had a long sleeved shirt on, so it was pretty okay. Okay enough for someone stuck I a cartoon. Also in possession of a dead guy's house.

I lifted my foot to move on, and my back tingled like someone was watching me with great interest.

"Casey! Casey! Over here!"

"Huh!" I looked up, my eyes darting all around until they landed on a certain green-bean standing slightly behind me.

Zim.

He gave me an almost withering look, one eye widening. I assumed that if he had eyebrows they would be raising. "I didn't say anything, worm-child." His lip curled. Obviously I already disgusted him. Wow, new record. He hadn't even seen me pick my nose or fart yet. Amazing.

"I-I, uh-"

He narrowed his eyes and then pushed past me, fake wig bouncing, feet marching. He started down the hill.

"Stupid human."

I gaped after him as he marched down the hill and then, softly; "Rude. He's so rude."

That was my first encounter with Zim. Aka Mr. Rude.

Wow.

I giggled, starting to smile, I considered, just for a moment, running after him, saying hi, trying to make a conversation at the least. But, he didn't seem in the best of moods. And I tended to be... Annoying. I'd get to meet him at lunch or something. Probably.

Oh god Casey he just keeps getting further and further away you'd better start running.

I did.

And I tripped almost immediately.

Stupid human indeed.

By the time I got back up, spitting gravel, he was out of sight and I had a scraped hand that was bleeding slightly. I just wiped it off on my pants.

I looked around for him, already forgetting the voice I'd heard only moments ago in my rush to catch up to Zim. I flew down the hill, feet skidding and squeaking on black-top as I stumbled into the road for a moment.

I rounded a corner as quickly as I could, skidding again as I did. A large-headed object appeared suddenly in front of me and I ran right into it, causing both of us to stumble and land on our butts, both with squeaks of surprise, though the big-headed object 's squeak sounded a bit more like 'NYAH' than my squeak did.

Oh.

Well I'd forgotten about Dib.

Ow.

"H_ey!_" Voice cracking, Dib rubbed at his head, squinting his eyes angrily at me. "What was _that_ for!?"

I blinked at him, pushing my glasses up in order to see. "Oh, o-oh dude I'm sorry." I got up, hesitated, and then stuck out my trembling hand for him. "I'm super duper sorry I was running too f-fast, oh man." I was blushing like an idiot and I felt like a total jerk. God, just your luck, Casey. Stupid human me. Already I'd embarrassed myself TWICE today. Jeeze.

Dib looked at me, frowning and making a confused face before getting up by himself. "Uh, it's okay." It was really, really neat to hear his voice, it sounded the same as it ever did, but. Wow. "You've got, uh, blood on your hand by the way..."

"Oh." I dropped my hand, stomach pitching. "Sorry, uh, I should get going?"

Dib frowned suspiciously. "Okay...?"

"No, it's just, I'm new and I've gotta register in school, er, skool and… stuff..."

"Uh, huh..."

I smiled sheepishly and then quickly started down the path, blushing like a dummy. God that was so so stupid, Casey. He probably thought you were an alien now. Uch.

That wouldn't be so bad if I knew with certainty that he _wouldn't_ attack me to see what kind of alien _guts_ I had. But, of course I didn't have that certainty. I didn't know anything for certain, actually. I could die any second in a place like this. A giant hotdog could fall from the sky and smite me, and it would be totally normal _here._

I glanced back. Dib was following me slowly, Gaz having suddenly appeared next to him. Oh, but that made sense, I'd run in to him in front of his house. He seemed preoccupied with Gaz, rambling to her, so I considered it safe to start speedwalking. After a few corners, I could just spot Zim up ahead, too far for Dib to see, thank goodness, and at least I wouldn't get lost on my way to 'skool'.

That spelling error would just bug me the entire time I was here, I knew it.

Feeling – somewhat – secure between the two main characters, I walked at a leisurely pace for a few minutes before Zim turned a corner, disappearing. I quickly followed, and to my surprise, the Skool loomed in front of me, children clambering to it like ants to a dropped suck-munkey.

I blinked, and then felt butterflies in my stomach. I hurried behind Zim, waiting for him to enter before me of course, too shy to go any further into his field of vision, and then entered. I could feel myself smiling like an idiot, and then frowning in surprise.

What really struck me was the smell. Vomit mixed with rhino sweat, as far as I could tell. I'd never sniffed a rhino's armpit, but I had to thank the school for giving me the supposed experience of it.

A kid screamed off to my right, reaching a decibel I didn't quite believe. A hand shoved my back and I stumbled forward into a thinner part of the crowd. I wondered if I could get away with just joining a class, no muss no fuss.

The entrance led down the hallway, a clear shot, but off to the side was a small cubical like window, up kind of high on the wall. As the kids streamed past – some still shoving me with sticky hands – I went to the window, standing on my tiptoes. There was a little bell that made a tickling sound when I rang it. I tried to peer over the edge of the counter, cursing my new height, but was unable to see the floor, just a; "WE'RE ALWAYS WATCHING :D" sign hung on the opposite wall.

With a swoop a seat appeared and a figure fell down from the ceiling with a thump, making me jolt. The man grinned at me, and my eyes widened.

"Mr El- e-er, s-Sir?" I blinked, staring. It was the glasses-wearing always-cheerful Mr. Elliot. Of course. Who else would it have been. They had to lure students in somehow, and give parents a sense of ease. If it had been Ms. Bitters the school would be shut down. If that was even _possible_. Maybe anyone not satisfied with 'customer service' was referred to the Underground Classroom.

"HeeeeLLLLO young man! How can I help you!?"

"Er, I'm a girl."

"Oh, WELL, what can I help you with young miss?! Do you need some extra _special_ help to a classroom!?"

My eye twitched before I glanced at his earnestly clasped hands. Gently, I reminded myself that he was an idiot, and looked back up to his face.

My voice took on my 'faking it' accent. All too proper and almost British. My 'talking to adults' voice.

"Well, yes, actually! I'm, er, new you see. My grandfather just died, and, well, right before registering me. Really, it's awful." I directed my eyes down to my hands, now clasped at my stomach, and tried to look deeply, horribly upset.

Mr. Elliot gasped. "Oh well now isn't that just a _shame!_ I'm sure we can take care of it right away! Now, what's your name?"

I looked up, mouth open a bit. "O-Oh, uhm, Casey. Casey…" My eyes darted around, "S-Staple-foot."

Dang it dang it dang it.

"Well Miss Stablehoof-"

"Staple-foot."

"Staplefoot! Most of our classrooms are filled up, so if you could just fill these out," a slot in the ceiling opened and a stack of papers fell onto the counter in front of me with a slam. "We can see which classroom would be the _best_ for you! Hopefully mine! Isn't that _neat?_"

I smiled a bit, taking the papers. I nearly dropped them. It was like carrying an anchor. "O-Oh, uhm, s-sure!" Not likely, I thought. I'd rather be with Bitters. That's where all the fun was, anyway. Even if she was some sort of unearthly demon.

Mr. Elliot gave me a thumbs up before the slot in the ceiling opened and he was sucked up into it with a 'fwump'. The slot closed with a beep just as the bell started to ring.

Children rushed past me, making monkey and other various zoo-noises as they attempted to make it to class before the bell finished. Gaz was down the hall, walking with her nose in her Game-Slave. I figured no one was brave enough to mark her tardy. I sure wasn't.

Feeling lost for a moment, I looked down at the papers. The stack of it reached nearly my chest. Wow. I inched over to the wall, dropped it, and then sat down. I pulled a pen out of my pocket and started going through it. "Maiden mother's name?" N/A. "Blood type?" N/A "response to sunlight? "Fair."

Some pretty weird questions, but they got weirder. "Opinion on zombie monkey torturers being used on children as a modern punishment?" Undecided.

Gotta love sch- Skool.

…

It took me a while, but I managed to get through all the paperwork, and weird as heck questions. ("Opinion on dog meat being used as a substitute in the Lunch meals?" No. Just, just no.) I stood, picking up my papers with a strained grunt. I'd started at, maybe 8:22, and it was now 8:40. Pretty good considering the amount of paper I had to work through, and the fact that I wrote out some pretty good answers to weird questions. ("While I cannot fully condone the option of strapping hungry rats to detention-students, I can, however, support it under certain circumstances.")

This scho- _Skool_ was pretty neat. Despite all it's apparent fatalities. And how much it smelled like a zoo.

I slid the paperwork onto the counter. The bell let out a loud ring and I jumped, looking around as – seemingly older kids – left and switched to different classrooms. Younger kids probably stayed in the same class all day. I checked my watch.

9:00

_9:00?_

Weird… I, guess I'd zoned out for a bit. Well, for… around ten minutes. Which wasn't unusual, of course, but I usually had a day dream during that period, or at least vividly imagined conversations.

Huh, cartoon-reality crud I supposed. It was unnerving, but didn't make me have a panic attack, so that was... okay I guess.

I turned to the counter and yelped. Mr. Elliot was leaning over the counter. He grinned at me. "Well hello there! Finished that paperwork, Casey?"

I blinked and then assumed a 'nice', and not at all forced, smile. "U-Uhm, yeah. All done. So, do I come back tomorrow, or…"

Mr. Eliot continued leaning over the counter, grinning at me as if I hadn't spoken. He blinked, and I heard a bit of a faint squeak, and then he sat back. "Well let's just let the _computer_ decide where to put you!" As he spoke, the papers were sucked up into the ceiling again. There was a beep, and then a single sheet of paper floated down. Mr. Elliot snatched it from the air. He looked at it, and his face turned a slightly lighter color. "Oh."

I smiled hopefully. "So…?"

"Oh, well, it appears that, since you're twelve and, uhm, all the other classrooms are filled, we'll have to put you with Miss Bitters, but… I assure you that she is an excellent teacher!" Once again chipper, he handed me the sheet of paper, grinning. "It's right down the hall Miss Stablehoof!"

"It's Staple-"

Mr. Elliot was sucked up through the ceiling with a chipper beep and I was left alone.

"-foot…"

Just me and my backpack. And the Security cameras. They finally turned to me, making whirring sounds. Apparently, now that I was a member of the sch-_SKOOL_, I was to be observed. How charming.

I made a bit of an awkward coughing noise before starting down the hall, looking around. Well, more specifically, looking for the cul-de-sac of classrooms that I recognized. The ones near Miss Bitters' room. I knew what it looked like, or well, loosely remembered, I just didn't know how to get there.

I breathed out, looking down at the sheet of paper and chewing my lip. "NEW STUDENT, MISS CASEY STAPLEFOOT" It said, along with my locker combination and number. God, I could have chosen a better last name, that was just ridiculous! Staplefoot. _Staplefoot_. I was so stupid. And awkward. And a number of other things.

I looked up as I reached the cul-de-sac, a room with "MISS BITTERS" printed on its' frosty window immediately catching my attention. I held my breath, stopping in front of it. Low sounds of a woman's voice claiming "doom, doom, doom…" sounded from inside it. I sniffed, looking the door over.

Okay miss 'Stablehoof', this was it, the big one. The 'holy crap you're actually doing this' moment. The moment of doubt where I realized how smegging stupid I am being oh my gosh.

I made a low whining noise, fingers clenching on my paper. I shifted from foot to foot, biting my lip yet again. I didn't really know how to proceed, but, well, bugger it!

I took in a deep breath and knocked before reaching to the brass knob, cold under my fingers. I pushed the door open, trying to fake a smile. Calm down, Cas, calm. Bullspit it all. Best way to get through life is a 'I dont care' attitude after all!

Oh gosh were those _my_ legs knocking together?

The "doom-track" stopped as the door swung open with a squeak, and all eyes turned onto me. I breathed out and squirmed, quietly walking up to the desk. I looked up, and Miss Bitters was suddenly learing over me, the rest of her body twisting to a point at her desk chair where it disappeared. Perspective gave her an incredibly imitating look as her black dress wavered like shadow. I turned my eyes to the white sheen that were her glasses. Oh man she was even cooler looking in person.

"Yes?" She croaked dryly. She didn't sound too pleased to see me. I wasn't even sure if she could feel anything other than 'not-pleased'. A fly suddenly buzzed out of her mouth.

Whelp.

"O-Oh, uhm…" I handed her my slip of paper, coughing into my hand awkwardly. She took it with a hiss, starting to look it over. I glanced around out of the corner of my eye. Zim was giving me a look, as if I was something GIR had dragged in, and then looked away with dis-interest. Dib was squinting suspiciously, eyes narrowed. He kept glancing to my beanie as well, as if I had a third eye under there. Great. Great first impression, Casey. The other students were giving me bored looks, some drooling. At least there were only two people interested in me.

Too bad they both didn't like me.

Bitters made a scoffing noise and suddenly her body flowed to join her head, leaving her crouched over me, hissing. One of her eyes widened at me slightly. "You answered positively to the rats, I see."

"O-Oh, uh, yes?"

She sniffed, and then looked towards the classroom. "Class," she said lightly. "It seems we have a new student; Casey. She may be a bit more promising than some of you. She likes rats." She glared at Dib who looked rather outraged that _rats_ would be the deciding factor of my popularity.

"Uh, hi." I mumbled, waving. "Rats are, uhm, neat?"

Miss Bitters went on speaking. "Doomed to become yet another failure of the human race, one cell of a dying body, yada-yada-go sit there." She pointed to a seat in the back of the classroom, flies buzzing above it.

I frowned, looking at it, looking to Miss Bitters. The desk. Bitters.

"It looks stinky."

"That's because it is. Now go sit in it."

A fly buzzed somewhere in the classroom as I blinked at her, probably the one that flew out of her mouth. Someone coughed awkwardly, and I looked down, quickly skittering to the seat behind Zita. The desk was marked with scratches and someone had written "Rob sat on meat" on it, and smelled like Rob had indeed sat on meat. I squinted, sliding my backpack off, and sat in the chair, which, immediately, let out a squeak. Ghost of Rob or his meat as far as I could tell.

Zim was glaring back at me, eyes narrowed as he peeked over his chair. Miss Bitters slithered back to her desk, sitting there, and somehow managing to look incredibly tall, despite her feet peeking out from under her desk.

Zim squinted at me angrily and then turned around in his seat, sitting normally and apparently uninterested. I blinked, confused, and then looked over to Dib.

He was staring at me out of the corner of his eye, and quickly sent me a suspicious glare before looking down into a note book that was on his desk, scribbling something out.

I blinked, squinted, and then sighed, leaning back in my chair. Miss Bitters looked over the class, starting to speak.

"Thanks to new school regulations, the video on war and carnage I was going to show you has now been postponed. Instead, you are all to make lists, long, _long_ lists, of horrible, _horrible_ things to do to the school board for such an atrocity. Those who get the best grades will have their lists checked over by me. If you're lucky, I may use a suggestion. Now _get writing_!" She growled the last word angrily, teeth gritting.

I jumped, as did the whole class. My desk squeaked and I got a few glances of annoyance before people started pulling out paper. I saw Zim grabbing paper with seeming relish, grinning. Looking to Dib, it appeared that he was already writing.

I sighed, bending down to my backpack. My desk let out another horribly loud squeak, making me flinch. I scowled and dug a notebook out of my backpack. I turned the jellyfish cover to a new, clean sheet of paper, and started writing.

It wasn't that hard to think of bad things. Kind of negative in its own right for me to be like that, but, hey, I watched a lot of horror movies. I tried with the first few sentences to use my best penmanship but, of course, I started getting lazy and it petered off into mush. Sighing, I put my chin on my hand, doodling small pictures of swords as I tried to think up something new. A sword turned into a bee stinger and a bee, and I wrote "swarmed by bees" before going back to doodling.

I heard a flutter, and looked up. I had time to squint in surprise before a paper airplane nailed me directly in my nose, the tip of it crumpling. I yelped, covering my nose as it fell onto my desk. I scowled and looked around angrily for who'd thrown it. No one was looking towards me. A few students had given up and started talking to each other, but that was it.

I huffed and snatched up the paper plane. I almost crumpled it for a moment, but something on it caught my attention. Along with a scrap of math homework, I could see half a doodle, the other half hidden by a fold in the paper. The doodle, however, looked like guts.

I quirked an eyebrow and unfolded the paper. On one side was math homework. Graded with a hundred, only to be crossed out and moved to a 80 for, as a little note said, "inappropriate math doodles".

I wondered if I would get a deduction for my doodles as I looked at the said; "inappropriate math doodles". I blinked. They were crude drawings of Zim being dissected. Why would anyone throw this at me?

I hesitated, and then turned the paper over. There, scribbled angrily, it seemed, or maybe that was just how the person – whom I'd already guessed at – wrote, was a note. Well, more of a demand.

_'Are you an alien?!'_

Of course that was it.

When I looked up, I saw Dib glaring at me. He quickly looked away however, turning his glare onto Zim, who'd lost all zeal for the project, and was now staring at the clock and clicking his fingers on the desk. Upon catching Dib glaring at him, his eyes narrowed and he scowled.

My stomach twisted into an excited knot and I wiggled in my seat. I immediately stopped however, because that made the squeak. I hesitated, and then smoothed out the note, writing my reply. Instinctively I wanted to be careful and eloquent, but, well I was supposed to be _twelve_. A twelve year old student who likes rats, not a sixteen year old girl trying to shmooze her way into main character's lives.

_'No, I'm not. Why?'_

Figuring I might as well play dumb, I added a little emoticon as well.

_':-?'_

Which wasn't really playing dumb on my part. I loved emoticons.

I figured I wouldn't be very good at throwing a paper airplane. It would probably go up Bitters' nose with my luck. So, instead, I opened my desk to look for something heavy. There was an instant hiss from its dark depths and I shut it with a slam, throwing my body weight onto it. I squeaked along with my chair as the desk started to rattle and shake until, eventually, it calmed down with a growl.

I lay on it, frozen in shock. A few students had looked back at me, including Dib and Zim.

"Oh, I wouldn't open that if I were you, miss Staplefoot, that's where the school keeps it's punishment badgers." Miss Bitters said loftily before looking down at her desk, seeming to zone out.

"I fig-gured." I mumbled, frazzled. My beanie was on crooked and I'm sure I looked panicked. I fixed my hat and sat normally before looking around. Dib was still staring at me, eyebrow raised.

I blushed, and then crumpled up the note, tossing it over two rows of kids heads. It went a little far, hitting the window and bouncing off of it to hit the back of Dib's head.

He yelped, and then quickly stooped to pick it up, unfolding it and reading it, eyes darting quickly all over the page before his face fell to disappointment. And then something like distrust. As if he'd been expecting some sort of drawn out confession and explanation. All written in three seconds, apparently.

He started writing his reply and I went back to my list. Well, doodling, really. I was drawing kittens now. Tiny kittens. So, so tiny. And they had lasers.

With a 'boop' a crumpled piece of paper fell onto my desk. I blinked, glancing to Dib. He gave me a squinty look, watching.

I blinked, and then opened the note.

_'That's JUST WHAT AN ALIEN WOULD SAY!'_ was written in all caps, loudly and angrily, and then had been promptly erased. _'How do I know that you're not lying?'_ was written below it instead.

I snorted, writing my reply. _'You don't, but I don't look like a lizard or anything, right? :-? idk what an alien would look like tho'_

I smiled excitedly. I was talking to Dib, well, writing to Dib, and, maybe, making a friend?

Crumpling it back up, I tossed it to Dib, who managed to catch it. He unwrapped it quickly, read it, and then started scribbling a reply. I waited, and soon enough he threw it back. A few kids looked up as it passed over head but other than that ignored it.

Catching the paper with a bit of fumbling, I glanced to Miss Bitters. She, well... She looked like she was asleep, honestly. I opened the note.

_'Well, yes, but you could be wearing a clever disguise! And if you want to know what an alien looks like, look in front of you! The green kid! He's an alien, bent on our world's DISTRUCTION!'_

I smiled a bit, glancing to Zim. He was looking to Dib, squinting, and then looked to me as soon as he realized Dib wasn't staring at him. He narrowed his eyes more, frowning, and I quickly looked down to reply.

_':-O omg. Really? The green skin is pretty weird, but... :-? Maybe he's just a sick kid?'_

Yeah, sick in the head. Man, playing it dumb sure was aggravating. I tossed the paper back, this time Zim watching. Dib caught it again, unfolded it, and squinted. He frowned and then wrote a rather short reply, tossing it back.

I caught it in surprise, opening it.

_'So you don't believe me?'_

I reached for my pencil, and then dropped it as the bell rang. I looked up as kids started to put their things away.

Miss Bitters came to life. "LUNCH! Go on, get." And then she promptly melted into the floor.

I blinked, and then got up. I put away my notebook and put on my backpack before starting down the row, glancing at Dib, who was hurrying behind the other children to meet me at the end, where Zim, also, was waiting

* * *

**ta da! lovely. If anyone has any requests or ideas as to who's side Casey's going to be on, what she's going to do/going to happen, feel free to comment about it! I've got a pretty good idea myself, but I'm pretty loose with the plot so far! Merry Christmas!**


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